To paraphrase a wise man, government is not the solution, it is the problem. On this site I hope to inspire debate, share personal observations and views, and to counter the sociopathic idiocy of the left. I encourage opposing views and comments!

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Tuesday, October 30, 2007

You may or may not remember Robert Conrad. He is an actor that I first encountered on afternoon television re-runs on the show “The Wild, Wild,West”. He later starred in “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” and another show where he was a park ranger in Alaska or something. He later did a battery commercial where he dared the viewer to knock a battery (Everready?) off of his shoulder.

People with an ax to grind or a chip on their shoulder irritate me. I am constantly flummoxed by the things that people become offended over, or get their feelings hurt about. I have a daughter in her mid teens who finds some reason to be upset about some manner of drama on almost a daily basis. Unfortunately, we have far too many “adults” who live to be offended.

I tire of political correctness. I tire of people who are in the tiniest of minorities on an issue getting their way because we live in a society that embraces diversity and tolerance for every fruitcake lifestyle and every little bitty feeling. I am tired of hearing of how a single person that is offended by some public display of religion manages to shut down a event enjoyed by thousands.

IN THIS LATEST BATTLE, a single complaint has forced the cancellation of a meaningful and sincere portion of the FUNERAL OF VETERANS. In a nutshell, an American flag has 13 folds. During veterans funerals the flag is folded and presented to the family. As the flag is folded, a particular recitation occurs explaining a meaning for each fold. You can read the link for details, but a couple of them refer to the Christian God and to the God of Abraham.

It shouldn’t surprise you that a single complaint came from Riverside, California during a veteran’s funeral, prompting the National Cemetery Administration to cancel the recitation during the flag folding. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) is leading the charge to have this decision overturned. Good for him. Charlie Waters, parliamentarian for the American Legion of California, said he's advising memorial honor details to ignore the edict. Good for him too. If civil disobedience works for the left, maybe we should try it too.

This post isn’t about freedom of religion, although it is freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion that is mentioned in the Constitution. This post is about the freedom to be unshackled from the idiocy of people who are supposed to be adults in this country. There are too many people who use the wrong venues for shoving their political correctness and pansy-ass opinions on the rest of normal America.

Freedom is being able to bury my veteran father in the way I choose to do so, not the way some observer of the ceremony thinks I should.

To the childish person who has the audacity to complain, Guess what? When my father is buried underneath that flag the moment isn’t about YOU. It is about my mother and my brothers and my father, and honoring the impact he has had on our lives. No, I am wrong. It is about you, it just isn’t about your needs or your feelings. It is about you having the right to express your pansy-ass opinion about the public display of religion because men like my father bled on the soil of more than one country to assure that you can do so. My father finds it hard to stand up from a chair sometimes because his knees are shot from humping machine guns up frozen Korean mountains. He has worn full dentures since the age of 18 because of a Chinese rifle butt being smashed on his face in the dead of night at a place called the Chosin Reservoir. He has a 30% hearing loss because of the explosions and artillery and gunfire for 14 months, plus another six in Vietnam. He earned FOUR purple hearts so your arrogant, self absorbed, lazy, pitiful, spineless ass can be so selfishly pathetic by forcing your absurd viewpoint on people who simply live their lives the way they want to live them without public statements or new conferences or 9th Circuit Court appeals.

Write your congressman about this TODAY. Write editorials in your paper TODAY. Blog about this TODAY.

Freedom is precious. Freedom is individual. Freedom is knowing that your sacrifices were not in vain. Freedom is knowing that there are always a few good men ready to pick up the flag and charge forward just as in decades past. Freedom is expressing your spirituality and using it to honor those who have sacrificed because of something larger than themselves.

There is freedom in knowing that I have served and fought for others to be free. I guess it is too much to expect that others appreciate their freedom by showing a little respect.

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Posts From Readers:

You are on a roll! The First Amendment right of freedom of religion has become a liberal crusade to force freedom from religion especially if it involves any form of Christianity. Additionally PC has allowed this vital part of the First Amendment to become a shield for fanatical practices that endanger this nation.

Such as Islamo Radicals schooling students on how to kill Americans....taking place daily in this country.

None of this is waht the Founders intended. Freedom of religion is the freedom to worship, believe and serve God in whatever belief that one has. Whether Christianity, Muslim, Jewish, Buddists, etc. It does not mean eliminating God from all aspects of American life.

While we have freedom of religion this nation was founded on Judeo/Christian values and the Founders understood and embraced them.

Honoring Vets at their funeral is a tradition in which the nation honors their service. Also if the family has no problem with the ceremony than the busy body liberal who complained should shut their trap!

Do you know for an absolute fact that it was a "liberal" who complained? Do you have proof? Or am I reading your prejudice? Prejudice--pre judging.

Anyway, I looked online and found this on a blog called Hot Air. Don't know anything about the blog or who runs it:

http://tinyurl.com/yw3pvd

One person at one military burial in California objected to the words of the flag-folding ceremony, which includes a reference to “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Result: a coast-to-coast ban on the recital at all 125 cemeteries overseen by the National Cemetery Administration. The families can read it aloud if they want, says the NCA, but no cemetery workers will be allowed to do so.

So a family member or a family friend can absolutely perform the recital. It hasn't been banned outright, just the cemetary workers have been barred from saying the words.

(I don't agree with this, BTW. The way the Bush administration should have handled it, IMHO, is to continue to allow the recital with references to God and leave out the references to God only when a particular family requests it.)

Here's more:

Some Michael Newdow type is going to sue the NCA if this persists, which is only going to end up getting Lloyd’s people fired. Exit question: Are we sure we can blame this one on the atheists? God is mentioned after both the 11th and 12th folds, but the first link up top specifies that it was the one after the 11th fold — meant to celebrate Jewish war veterans — that drew the objection.

Robert, because the objection was only to the reference for Jewish veterans, perhaps the protester was a religious person of the Muslim persuasion.

No one knows who objected. You and your friends have your lynching mob out ready to blame a liberal.

And BTW, thanks for acknowledging that a Democrat, Heath Shuler, also thinks this is a dumb idea as well.

Honoring Vets at their funeral is a tradition in which the nation honors their service. Also if the family has no problem with the ceremony than the busy body liberal who complained should shut their trap!

My mistake. I read that in tlltct's post. Sorry.

I guess my misreading is the result of having gone without much sleep over the past few days, staying up past midnight to watch the Red Sox win another World Series.

Another World Series.

In a strange way, this second win has left me hopelessly melancholy.

As a once long, long, long, long suffering Sox fan, I can no longer cling to the desolation I felt each autumn as I faced the pitiless cold winter of my winless soul.

I am now one of those common folk who loves a team that actually wins.

I don't know what to do about it.

Really.

I'm thinking maybe some therapy might help.

And please, don't even mention the Patriots.

I'm so depressed by all this winning, I may do something desperate--like become a Cubs fan.

Another excellent post! I felt your passion and agree 100%. My question is why? Why do we sit back and take this? And I can't believe that I am actually agreeing with Shaw here but I agreed completely with his statement. LOL

"(I don't agree with this, BTW. The way the Bush administration should have handled it, IMHO, is to continue to allow the recital with references to God and leave out the references to God only when a particular family requests it.)"

I intend to write to my congressman because if we let this go without a word, they will just keep pushing and pushing till they get God thrown out of everywhere.

ROFL at Shaw. My dad is from St. Louis and I am a Cards fan. I don't understand the angst that Red Sox fans endured for the best part of a century, but I sympathize. There is some consolation in being the underdog, because when you win it is magnified a thousand times. Now there are expectations and it presents some odd feelings...My Auburn Tigers were once the trod upon stepping stone of the SEC, now we contend each year. While I am thrilled about this, it just makes the mediocre seasons like this one disappointing.

Jenn, I also agree with you and him about the Adminisrtion's handling of this issue. Of all things to refuse to fight over!

I always considered a funeral a PRIVATE affair for the family and friends of the recently departed. This should be their decision based on what they believe would honor and please the person who has died. My take on recent events is this; people have way too much time on their hands. There wasn't time for this nonsense back in the days when you had to wash your clothes in the river and hunt for your foos, chop wood for a fire to stay warm. It was all about survival of the fittest. I can't help but wonder how many of these ignorant, lazy jack-legs would have made it.Kind of makes you yearn for the old days...maybe not. :)

Rocky, I can't help but snicker at your comment. We watch the television show "Jericho" and love it. If you haven't seen it, it is a show about the small town of Jericho, Kansas and the aftermath of a nuclear attack on America. The people have to fend for themselves, as every major city was nuked, and there is no real federal government. The town has to pool their resources, work as a team, work as an army, barter or fight with neighboring towns, etc just to survive.

I recently went on a cub scout overnight camping thing and it was obvious that many parents had never camped before. Instead of cooking supper they went through McDonalds on the way. Some had trouble with their tents, and in the morning they were completely unprepared for even coffee. Any talk of a real hiking/camping outing in future years brought fear to many eyes. We have this expression about peole now that goes "He/she wouldn't make it in Jericho".

My wife said that she knows our family would be fine, because of my abilities outdoors because of my own scouting, my Marine Corps experience, and my general "improvise/adapt/overcome" mentality. I was proud that she sees me that way. One of the true gifts I have been blessed with is the ability to take charge and make decisions.

If you spend your life looking for things to be offended about at every turn, you won't make it in Jericho.

No, it is on one of the networks. I think it was going to be cancelled, but the public brought it back. Unless I am mistaken, it is going to be on in the off-sason, kind of like "24" and return in January or February.

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I am a relatively normal guy living a relatively normal life in one of the sane states. I originally started a blog as a personal journal more than anything, but it was awash with political talk as I am a political junkie. My focus has evolved and I now have a blog partner at the Conservative Convictions site. Join in for some interesting and poignant discussion!